Retired civil servant, world traveller.

After quitting Jarvis in Grade 13, I worked for Eatons for a short time, then joined a fellow from Zambia taking “drive-away” cars around the USA and back to Canada. Next, I hitch-hiked to Expo ’67 and Gander before catching a plane to Prestwick, Scotland. Hitched around Europe and back to Amsterdam where I bought a 10-speed bike. Rode through Holland, Belgium, France and England before returning to Canada.
Worked in the Gray Tools time-study office on Dupont St. Finished up high school at Northern Secondary and went on to Brock Univ. in St. Catharines. After first year at Brock, I took off for Europe again. I hitchhiked around Europe then decided to head east from Istanbul, destination Osaka World’s Fair 1970. I teamed up with an adventurous English maiden. We didn’t want to miss out on the most famous places in Turkey, so hiked west, crossed the Dardenelles Strait and continued hiking down the Turkish coast to the amazing Ephesus archaeological site. After a month touring Turkey, we spent two months in Iran taking in the ruins of Persepolis and Shushtar. Not to be deterred by the pervasiveness of guns and

nefarious characters, we hiked on through the time warp of Afghan towns, dodging horses and camels and on into Pakistan. We travelled for a month taking in such wonders as Moenjadaro, a planned Pakistani city that goes back to 2500 BCE, then worked for a month in Karachi before pushing on to southern India just before war broke out between Pakistan and India.
After three months hitching rides in India — in a Mercedes with tea-estate owner one day and an ox-driven cart with a poor farmer the next day — I had learned how to swear in Punjabi from truck drivers who played “chicken” with on-coming traffic on narrow highways. Almost always staying with hospitable local people. I decided I had barely scratched the surface of the stunning multitude and contrast of cultures in India. I gave up plans to go further east and stayed on in India and Nepal until parasites and disease finally drove me home.
I finished my BA at Brock with a double major in sociology and psychology. I was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to study community development for my MA in India, but that was delayed by a year when India detonated a nuclear device, upsetting Ottawa. I spent a summer on a Shastri Indo-Canadian fellowship at McGill/Concordia instead, then worked as a Child Care Worker at Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital until my Commonwealth Scholarship came through.
My scholarship included study tours to community development projects in diverse communities in India. Then I spent another half year travelling extensively, including a 220-km trek through the Himalayan mountains from Ladakh to Himalchal Pradesh. Then back to Canada where I worked for various charities and volunteered on many charitable boards. Next, I then worked as Field Director for Foster Parents Plan International in the Philippines, giving me a total of seven years in Asia.
Back to working for charities in Canada while earning an MBA at York U. I changed my career to work at the Ontario Office of the Provincial Auditor (now Auditor General), then went to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee as a Trust Officer. I earned the Cdn Securities Institute’s Financial Mgmt Advisor (FMA) designation and wound up my career as a Financial Planner at PGT.
I’m currently back living in my old haunts in the Annex, Toronto, with annual vacations in Cuba. Leisure activities include repairing the historic Tollkeeper’s Cottage on Davenport Rd. and cycling with friends such as Jarvis alumnus, Oliver Bertin.